Socialism is state sponsored theft and slavery. The degree to which the state taxes its citizens and controls the hiring and firing of labor is the degree to which the state engages in theft and slavery respectively. Communism is merely socialism taken to its logical extreme. Choose your system of government and its governors accordingly.

Fred Thompson evidently intends to declare his candidacy soon, with rumors suggesting he'll do it on the anniversary of the death of John Adams. He seems cut from the mold of Ronald Reagan, and has a lot of the attributes which seem to be lacking in other Republican front runners. Charisma and a willingness to say things which might actually be perceived in an unpopular light by someone somewhere at some point. If nothing else, it will nice to see a candidate unafraid of occasionally speaking his mind, even if it means pissing off a fair number of people. To quote a friend of mine, "I would love for him to come out and say, 'Government doesn't solve the problem, government is the problem.'"

Aptly, the same friend also observed, "I'm actually excited to see how much he is going to disappoint me."